Gagne's 9 Events
of Instruction
1. Gaining attention
2. Informing the learner of the objective
3. Stimulating recall of prior learning
4. Presenting the stimulus
5. Providing learner
guidance
Supplying organization and relevance to enhance understanding
(Explain each item)
These are combined
6. Eliciting performance-N/A
7.Providing feedback-N/A
8. Assessing Performance-N/A
9. Retention
Transcript
Hello! I am Heather Chandler. Today I will be giving you
some tips for writing professionally.
So, you’re a college student and you’ve taken creative
writing classes and now you’re thinking of becoming an author. You’ve taken all
the classes and know all about writing, it should be easy, right?
Not really. You do know a lot about the technical aspect of
writing but what about the art? What about the Muse? Creative writing gives you
some skill, but there is so much more to becoming an author.
There are so many sites out there today giving so much
advice that it’s enough to boggle the mind. Some of its good and some of it—not
so much.
So how do you decide what’s best? Well, that is up to each
individual. But…
I can offer you some tips to help you write no matter what
method you discover works best for you, these are sure to help you along.
Here is my Top Ten list of advice for aspire writers.
- Number 10. Read widely, especially in the genre you want to write.
So many authors, including Stephen King, advocate reading. Do read. Read often.
Don’t simply read for enjoyment, but also examine the writing and the dialogue.
Why is this book so good? What does the author do?
- Number 9. Never use any intrusive verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. Meaning, don’t have the characters constantly grumbling, snapping or hissing. And also, use “said” sparingly.
- Number 8. Likewise, never use an adverb to modify the verb "said". You’ve probably seen this one often. So and so said angrily or happily said this or that.
- Number 7. Don't go into great detail describing places and things. Now, you do need to give some detail in order to bring the reader into the scene and to help them visualize it. But don’t bore the reader or spell everything out for them—they aren’t stupid and like filling in the blanks themselves. Show don’t tell.
- Number 6. Cut every inessential, nonconsequential word. There are so many fluff words and sentences throughout your manuscript. When you start editing and revising you should end up cutting the fat out of at least 10% of your book. As Stephen Kings says: “Kill your darlings”
(These last three can be summed up as don’t write anything
that interrupts the flow of the action. Also the “show don’t tell” applies to
these. Show the emotions and actions don’t tell me about it.)
- Number 5. Speaking of such—write action or at least conflict. Even humor and romance novels have conflict. The protagonist has to have some kind of obstacle (or two) to get past. If you don’t have good conflict it won’t be interesting. And remember conflict can be external or internal.
- Number 4. Edit. Edit Edit. I cannot say this enough. Edit. Once you finish, put it to the side for a bit. Either a few days or weeks. Separate yourself from it because you are too close and biased. Of course you think it’s brilliant. Get some space and then go back and be objective. Pretend you are seeing it for the first time. And hack it up.
- Number 3. Cultivate beta-readers and critique partners. Beta readers read the book for enjoyment and tell you what they liked or disliked about the story—as a reader would. These are important so try to have a few people to do this for you. You’ll be surprised what they pick up. Critique partners are a little more skilled. They are either editors or fellow writers. They have the experience and skill and can catch technical problems. They’ll see redundancies and improper word uses and will help polish your story.
- Number 2. Edit. Yes. Edit. Now that you have your feedback from your crit partners and readers go through it again and fine tune it. Also, by this point you should know what your genre is and who publishes it. Look at the company or companies you want to submit to and see what their submission guidelines are. What font do they want? How many words? What kind of query letter and information page are they looking for. What do you need to do to your manuscript to make it ready for submission?
- Number 1. Write. Don’t wait for inspiration. Don’t wait until you have free time. Just write. Write for 10 minutes or write for 3 hours. It doesn’t matter. You won’t find time—you have to make time. Everyone who is serious about writing makes time almost every day.
There you have it. Some quick tips to help you out.
Remember, Read, reduce adverbs, use said sparingly, keep details short and to
the point, cut out fluff, write conflict, edit, have beta readers and crit
partners and sit down and write.
- the rationale for your podcast design-There are many aspiring writer/authors out there and it is difficult to find sound advice that does not contradict other advice. This podcast can help them with a few simple tips that will work for anyone.
target learner audience-Any age group that is interested in writing professionally. Many people start writing at a young age.- the learning objectives-
a. Be able to write more succinctly.
b. Know some of the pros and cons of word useage
c. Understand the importance of editing and revising
d. Have an understanding of basic writing skills
e. Know that it takes an army to have a good book.
f. Be prepared to put the effort in and write much more frequently than they normally do.
g. Knowing the importance of writing structure and of conflict in the story. - the overall design and justifications for the design (e.g., why you believe this is an effective way to teach your objective) -Not only is there the written transcript but the audio helps the audience remember key things better. Also, audio is more entertaining and interesting.
